Automatic scalding and temperature control integrated processing device for white strip poultry

Abstract

This invention provides an integrated automatic scalding and temperature control device for dressed poultry, relating to the field of poultry slaughtering and processing technology. The device includes a scalding tank, an upper cover, and a poultry carcass carrying mechanism. The carcass carrying mechanism, located on the inner wall of the upper cover, includes a main frame, a motion drive assembly, and multiple carrying cage assemblies. Each carrying cage assembly includes a main carrying rod movably connected to the main frame. A lower cage, elastically vertically movable, is located at the bottom of the main carrying rod, with an upper cage rotating in coordination with it. The lower cage moves, opening and closing the two cages. The upper cage contains a spreading unit for spreading the wing roots of the poultry. The motion drive assembly drives the main carrying rod to perform a combined reciprocating and rotating motion along the main frame. This invention achieves independent loading of the poultry carcass and spreading of the wing roots, and through the combined motion, creates strong disturbance within the tank, significantly improving scalding uniformity, efficiency, and feather interception effect.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of poultry slaughtering and processing technology, and in particular to an integrated automatic scalding and temperature control device for dressed poultry. Background Technology

[0002] The processing of dressed poultry (such as chickens, ducks, and geese) is a crucial step in the market circulation of poultry products, typically involving multiple processes including slaughtering, bleeding, scalding, plucking, and eviscerating. Among these, the quality of the scalding process directly affects the cleanliness of subsequent plucking, the appearance of the poultry, and production efficiency. The purpose of scalding is to relax the muscles around the feather follicles using appropriately heated water, reducing resistance to feather removal. Therefore, the uniformity and stability of the scalding water temperature, as well as sufficient contact between the scalding liquid and the poultry's surface (especially concealed areas such as the armpits and wing roots), are essential to ensuring the quality of scalding.

[0003] Currently, most commercially available devices for scalding dressed poultry are simple constant-temperature scalding tanks. Their structure typically includes a tank with heating elements and a temperature sensor, and a cage for holding the poultry. During operation, the poultry are loaded into the cage in batches and then immersed in the hot water in the tank. To improve water temperature uniformity, some devices have added impellers or circulating pumps to the bottom of the tank for stirring.

[0004] However, existing scalding devices have at least the following technical drawbacks: First, the traditional cage-like structure squeezes multiple birds together, resulting in insufficient contact between the piled-up areas and the hot water. Areas such as the wing roots and inner legs often experience incomplete scalding, severely impacting subsequent feather removal. Simultaneously, the birds are naturally curled up in the water, with their wings pressed tightly against their bodies, making it difficult for hot water to penetrate and exacerbating uneven scalding. Second, common bottom stirring methods fail to create large-scale, highly turbulent flow within the pool. Temperature stratification and stagnant zones easily exist in different areas of the pool, making it difficult to guarantee water temperature uniformity. Furthermore, the dynamic scouring effect of the water flow on the bird's surface is weak, reducing heat transfer efficiency. In addition, feathers, dander, and other impurities that detach and float in the water during scalding are difficult to clean and easily adhere to birds undergoing subsequent scalding, increasing the burden on the later cleaning process. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of this invention is to provide an integrated automatic scalding and temperature control device for poultry, in order to solve the technical problems mentioned in the background art.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following technical solution:

[0007] An integrated automatic scalding and temperature control device for poultry includes a scalding tank, an upper cover, and a poultry carrying mechanism. The scalding tank is equipped with a uniform heating component to provide a heat source. The upper cover is movably positioned above the scalding tank and configured to move vertically relative to it. The upper cover can cover the upper side of the scalding tank by moving downwards and can move away from it by moving upwards. The poultry carrying mechanism is located on the inner wall of the upper cover facing the scalding tank and includes a main frame, a motion drive component, and multiple carrying cage components. The main frame is arranged along the length of the upper cover and is fixedly connected to the inner wall of the upper cover. The multiple carrying cage components are evenly spaced on the main frame. The upper part includes a cage assembly comprising a main support rod, an upper cage, and a lower cage. The top of the main support rod is connected to the main support frame and can move along its length. The lower cage is located at the bottom of the main support rod and can move elastically vertically. The upper cage is located above the lower cage and is rotatably engaged with one end of the main support rod. When the lower cage moves vertically relative to the main support rod, the lower cage rotates relative to the upper cage to achieve the engagement and disengagement of the lower and upper cages. The upper cage has two opening units inside, which are used to open the wing roots of the poultry. The motion drive assembly is located on the main support frame, and the main support rods in each poultry carrying mechanism are connected to it. The motion drive assembly is used to drive the main support rod to perform a combined reciprocating and rotating motion along the length of the main support frame.

[0008] Based on the above technical solutions, the present invention also provides the following optional technical solutions:

[0009] In one alternative: the expansion unit includes an expansion rod and an expansion shaft. The expansion shaft is fixed to the inner wall of the upper cage and an expansion connecting sleeve is fitted on it. A spring is provided between the expansion connecting sleeve and the expansion shaft. The expansion rod is arranged along the length of the upper cage and one end is fixedly connected to the outer wall of the expansion connecting sleeve.

[0010] In one alternative: a lower main rod is provided at the bottom end of the main support rod, and an installation sleeve is provided at the end of the lower cage facing the main support rod, and the installation sleeve is slidably fitted onto the lower main rod. The bottom of the lower main rod has a drop-blocking plate, and the drop-blocking plate and the installation sleeve are connected by an upper bearing spring.

[0011] In one alternative: at least one connecting shaft is provided on the side wall of the mounting sleeve, at least one cage rod is provided at the end of the upper cage facing the main support rod, one end of the cage rod is fixedly connected to the connecting shaft, a splitting gear is provided on the connecting shaft, and at least one splitting rack is provided on the side wall of the main support rod and the splitting rack meshes with the corresponding splitting gear.

[0012] In one alternative: the top of the main support rod is provided with an upper connecting sleeve, which is slidably fitted onto the main support rod. The main support rod is provided with a swing gear. The motion drive assembly is connected to each upper connecting sleeve and is used to drive each upper connecting sleeve to reciprocate along the length of the main support frame. The main support frame is also provided with an action rod, which is arranged along the length of the main support frame and has multiple rotating racks that mesh with the multiple swing gears respectively.

[0013] In one alternative embodiment: the motion drive assembly includes a swing motor and a synchronous connecting rod. The synchronous connecting rod is arranged along the length of the main frame and is fixedly connected to multiple swing gears. A rod frame is provided on the synchronous connecting rod, and the rod frame extends along the width of the hot ironing tank. The swing motor is located on the upper cover, and its output end is provided with a toggle rod. The end of the toggle rod away from the swing motor is bent and extends downward into the rod frame.

[0014] In one alternative embodiment: the side of the scalding tank is provided with guide posts and at least two lifting drive cylinders, with the lifting drive cylinders located at both ends of the scalding tank. The upper cover is connected to both lifting drive cylinders and configured to move vertically. The telescopic ends of the lifting drive cylinders are fixedly connected to the upper cover.

[0015] In one alternative embodiment: the scalding tank includes an inner tank and an outer tank. The inner tank serves as the scalding space and is located inside the outer tank, forming a sealed heating cavity between the two. The bottom wall of the inner tank is arc-shaped and has a heat-conducting medium. The heating cavity is equipped with a temperature-equalizing heating component, which is configured to heat the heat-conducting medium within the heating cavity, thereby uniformly heating the scalding liquid within the inner tank through indirect heat transfer via the wall surface of the inner tank.

[0016] In one alternative embodiment: the temperature equalization heating assembly includes temperature equalization rotating shafts and heating rods. There are two temperature equalization rotating shafts arranged parallel to each other in the heating cavity. The ends of the two temperature equalization rotating shafts are rotatably connected to the side wall of the outer pool and extend to the outer wall of the outer pool. The ends of the two temperature equalization rotating shafts are connected by a belt drive component. One of the temperature equalization rotating shafts is connected to a temperature equalization drive box located on the outer wall of the outer pool. Each temperature equalization rotating shaft is provided with multiple temperature equalization blades distributed along the axis. The heating rod is located between the two temperature equalization rotating shafts and is used to heat the immersion liquid.

[0017] By adopting the above technical solution, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0018] This invention avoids the squeezing and piling caused by traditional batch loading by independently loading poultry carcasses into the carrying cage assembly, ensuring that the surface of each poultry carcass can fully contact the hot water. In particular, when the upper and lower cages are fastened together, the opening unit inside the upper cage can precisely press and open the wing root area of ​​the poultry carcass, changing the wings from a state close to the body to an open state. This ensures that hidden areas such as the armpits and wing roots, which are difficult to scald thoroughly in traditional processes, can be fully soaked in hot water, completely solving the technical problem of local "incomplete scalding" and laying the foundation for subsequent high-cleanliness feather removal.

[0019] In this invention, the motion drive component drives the main support rod in a combined reciprocating and rotating motion, which in turn causes the entire support cage assembly and the poultry inside to oscillate and rotate in the scalding pool liquid. This combined motion not only creates efficient and wide-range agitation of the scalding liquid, eliminating temperature stratification and ensuring a highly uniform water temperature throughout the pool, but more importantly, it generates continuous, multi-directional relative impact and shearing between the poultry surface and the water. This constantly disrupts and renews the boundary layer, greatly enhancing the efficiency of heat transfer from the liquid to the poultry surface, effectively shortening scalding time and increasing production cycle time.

[0020] During the scalding and combined movement processes, the poultry remains confined within the cage formed by the interlocking upper and lower cage bodies. This cage structure, while ensuring sufficient water flow, creates a physical barrier that effectively intercepts and captures feathers, cuticles, and other impurities detached from the poultry's surface during scalding, preventing them from escaping and suspending in the scalding liquid throughout the scalding tank. This not only prevents detached feathers from re-adhering to the poultry's surface, reducing the difficulty of subsequent cleaning, but also greatly facilitates the centralized cleaning and collection of detached impurities after the work is completed, improving the maintainability of the equipment and the hygiene level of production.

[0021] This device opens the feeding gap and closes the scalding state by vertically moving the upper cover. Combined with the automatic closing design of the lower cage based on the weight of the poultry, the placement of a single poultry is extremely simple. The entire scalding process requires no manual intervention to stir or remove loose feathers, realizing a semi-automated or fully automated process from loading, scalding to unloading, significantly reducing labor intensity and improving operational safety. Attached Figure Description

[0022] To more clearly illustrate the specific embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the specific embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained from these drawings without creative effort.

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of an integrated automatic scalding and temperature control device for poultry in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the installation structure of the scalding pool and poultry carcass support mechanism in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the poultry body support mechanism in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 4 for Figure 3 Enlarged structural diagram at point A in the middle.

[0027] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the load-bearing cage assembly structure in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the upper cage installation structure in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the lower cage structure in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the uniform temperature heating component structure in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0031] Figure reference numerals: Scalding pool 100, Inner pool body 110, Outer pool body 120, Upper cover 200, Guide column 300, Lifting drive cylinder 310, Poultry carcass support mechanism 400, Main rod frame 410, Motion drive assembly 420, Swing motor 421, Synchronous connecting rod 422, Rod frame 423, Actuating bent rod 424, Carrying cage assembly 430, Carrying main rod 431, Upper cage body 432, Connecting shaft 4321, Opening and closing gear 4322, Cage rod 43 23. Lower cage body 433, mounting sleeve 4331, lower main rod 434, expansion unit 435, expansion rod 4351, expansion shaft 4352, expansion connecting sleeve 4353, upper bearing spring 436, opening and closing rack 437, upper connecting sleeve 438, swing gear 439, actuating rod 440, self-rotating rack 441, temperature equalization drive box 500, temperature equalization heating component 600, temperature equalization rotating shaft 610, temperature equalization blade 620, heating rod 630, belt drive component 640. Detailed Implementation

[0032] The technical solution of the present invention will now be clearly and completely described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0033] The left, right, up, and down positions of the various components shown in the attached diagram are just one arrangement method; the specific positions should be set according to specific needs.

[0034] In one embodiment, such as Figures 1-3 As shown, an integrated automatic scalding and temperature control device for poultry includes a scalding tank 100, an upper cover 200, and a poultry carcass support mechanism 400. The scalding tank 100 is internally equipped with a uniform heating component 600 for providing a heat source within the scalding tank 100. The upper cover 200 is movably disposed above the scalding tank 100 and configured to move vertically relative to the scalding tank 100. The upper cover 200 can cover the scalding tank by moving downwards. The upper side of the upper cover 200 is located above the scalding pool 100, and can be moved away from the scalding pool 100 by moving upwards; the poultry carrying mechanism 400 is located on the inner wall of the upper cover 200 facing the scalding pool 100, and the poultry carrying mechanism 400 includes a main frame 410, a motion drive assembly 420, and multiple carrying cage assemblies 430. The main frame 410 is arranged along the length direction of the upper cover 200 and is fixedly connected to the inner wall of the upper cover 200. The multiple carrying cage assemblies 430 are equally spaced on the main frame 410. The supporting cage assembly 430 includes a supporting main rod 431, an upper cage 432, and a lower cage 433. The top of the supporting main rod 431 is connected to the main rod frame 410 and can move along its length. The lower cage 433 is located at the bottom of the supporting main rod 431 and can move elastically vertically. The upper cage 432 is located on the upper side of the lower cage 433 and is rotatably engaged with one end of the supporting main rod 431. When the lower cage 433 moves vertically relative to the supporting main rod 431, the lower cage 433 moves vertically relative to the upper cage 433. The cage body 432 rotates to achieve the locking and unlocking of the lower cage body 433 and the upper cage body 432; the upper cage body 432 is provided with two opening units 435, which are used to open the wing roots of the poultry; the motion drive assembly 420 is provided on the main rod frame 410, and the main support rod 431 in each poultry support mechanism 400 is connected to it. The motion drive assembly 420 is used to drive the main support rod 431 to perform a combined reciprocating and rotating motion along the length direction of the main rod frame 410.

[0035] In this embodiment of the invention, initially, the scalding pool 100 is filled with water for scalding, and the scalding pool 100 and the upper cover 200 are detached. There is a feeding gap between the scalding pool 100 and the upper cover 200. The lower cage 433 and the upper cage 432 are also open. The worker places the poultry inside the lower cage 433 with its abdomen facing upward. Under the weight of the poultry, the lower cage 433 moves downward, and the upper cage 432 gradually covers the lower cage 433, so that the poultry is inside the cover formed by the lower cage 433 and the upper cage 432. When the upper cage 432 covers the lower cage 433, its two internal supporting units 435 gradually press against the wing roots of the poultry and open them. After the poultry is placed, the upper cover 200 moves toward the scalding pool 100 and gradually closes. The poultry carcasses 400 and above are all inside the scalding pool 100 and immersed in the scalding liquid. The motion drive component 420 starts working and drives multiple supporting main rods 431 to move back and forth along the length of the main rod frame 410. The supporting main rods 431 rotate while moving. The supporting main rods 431 drive the upper cage 432 and the lower cage 433 to swing back and forth, so that the scalding liquid inside the scalding pool 100 is agitated to maintain a uniform water temperature. The scalding liquid impacts the surface of the poultry carcasses, which is conducive to the contact between the scalding liquid and the surface of the poultry carcasses. The spreading unit 435 spreads the wings of the poultry carcasses to ensure thorough scalding. After the poultry carcasses are scalded, the poultry carcasses are in the enclosure formed by the upper cage 432 and the lower cage 433, which ensures that the shed feathers on the surface of the poultry carcasses will not remain in the scalding liquid, thus avoiding the need for subsequent cleaning of feathers and other impurities in the scalding liquid.

[0036] In one embodiment, such as Figures 1-7 As shown, the spreading unit 435 includes a spreading rod 4351 and a spreading shaft 4352. The spreading shaft 4352 is fixed on the inner wall of the upper cage 432, and a spreading connecting sleeve 4353 is sleeved on it. A spring is provided between the spreading connecting sleeve 4353 and the spreading shaft 4352. The spreading rod 4351 is arranged along the length of the upper cage 432, and one end of it is fixedly connected to the outer wall of the spreading connecting sleeve 4353. In this embodiment of the invention, in the initial state, the two spreading rods 4351 are distributed in a V-shape. After the upper cage 432 covers the lower cage 433, the spreading rods 4351 abut against the abdomen of the bird and gradually spread out to both sides, thereby opening the wings to allow the hidden parts of the bird to be opened and ensure thorough scalding.

[0037] In one embodiment, such as Figures 1-7As shown, a lower main rod 434 is provided at the bottom end of the main support rod 431, and an installation sleeve 4331 is provided at the end of the lower cage 433 facing the main support rod 431. The installation sleeve 4331 is slidably fitted onto the lower main rod 434. The bottom of the lower main rod 434 has a drop-blocking plate, and the drop-blocking plate and the installation sleeve 4331 are connected by an upper bearing spring 436. In this embodiment of the invention, in the initial state, due to the elastic force of the upper bearing spring 436, there is a certain gap between the installation sleeve 4331 and the lower main rod 434. After the poultry is placed inside the lower cage 433, due to the weight of the poultry, the installation sleeve 4331 compresses the upper bearing spring 436 and moves downward.

[0038] In one embodiment, such as Figures 1-7 As shown, at least one connecting shaft 4321 is provided on the side wall of the mounting sleeve 4331, and at least one cage rod 4323 is provided on the end of the upper cage 432 facing the main support rod 431. One end of the cage rod 4323 is fixedly connected to the connecting shaft 4321. A splitting gear 4322 is provided on the connecting shaft 4321, and at least one splitting rack 437 is provided on the side wall of the main support rod 431, with the splitting rack 437 meshing with the corresponding splitting gear 4322. In this embodiment of the invention, when the mounting sleeve 4331 moves on the lower main rod 434, the upper cage 432 moves with the mounting sleeve 4331. Since the splitting gear 4322 meshes with the splitting rack 437, the connecting shaft 4321 rotates, and the upper cage 432 rotates with the connecting shaft 4321, so as to realize the closing and unfolding of the upper cage 432 and the lower cage 433.

[0039] In one embodiment, such as Figures 1-6 As shown, the top of the main support rod 431 is provided with an upper connecting sleeve 438, which is slidably fitted onto the main support rod 431. The main support rod 431 is provided with a swing gear 439. The motion drive assembly 420 is connected to each upper connecting sleeve 438 and is used to drive each upper connecting sleeve 438 to reciprocate along the length of the main rod frame 410. The main rod frame 410 is also provided with an action rod 440, which is arranged along the length of the main rod frame 410 and has multiple actuators respectively connected to multiple swing gears. The rotating rack 441 meshes with the moving gear 439. In this embodiment of the invention, under the drive of the motion drive assembly 420, the upper connecting sleeve 438 moves back and forth along the main rod frame 410. Since the rotating rack 441 and the swing gear 439 are in a meshing state, the moving main support rod 431 performs alternating forward and reverse rotation. The main support rod 431 drives the upper cage 432 and the lower cage 433 to swing, thereby causing the poultry to move in the scalding liquid, stirring the scalding liquid while swinging, increasing the contact with the scalding liquid.

[0040] In one embodiment, such as Figures 1-6As shown, the motion drive assembly 420 includes a swing motor 421 and a synchronous connecting rod 422. The synchronous connecting rod 422 is arranged along the length direction of the main frame 410 and is fixedly connected to multiple upper connecting sleeves 438. A rod frame 423 is provided on the synchronous connecting rod 422, and the rod frame 423 extends along the width direction of the hot ironing tank 100. The swing motor 421 is located on the upper cover 200, and its output end is provided with a deflecting bent rod 424. The end of the deflecting bent rod 424 away from the swing motor 421 is bent and extends downward into the rod frame 423. In this embodiment of the invention, the swing motor 421 drives the deflecting bent rod 424 to rotate around the central axis of its output end. The deflecting bent rod 424 can move along the length direction of the rod frame 423, thereby acting on the rod frame 423 to make it reciprocate along the length direction of the main frame 410. As a result, the synchronous connecting rod 422 moves with the rod frame 423 and drives multiple upper connecting sleeves 438 to move synchronously. The portion of the actuating bent rod 424 that extends into the rod frame 423 has a rotating roller, which makes rolling contact with the inner wall of the rod frame 423.

[0041] In one embodiment, such as Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the scalding pool 100 is provided with guide posts 300 and at least two lifting drive cylinders 310 on its side. The lifting drive cylinders 310 are located at both ends of the scalding pool 100. The upper cover 200 is connected to both lifting drive cylinders 310 and is configured to move vertically. The telescopic ends of the lifting drive cylinders 310 are fixedly connected to the upper cover 200. The telescopic movement of the lifting drive cylinders 310 drives the upper cover 200 to move vertically, so that the upper cover 200 moves away from or closer to the scalding pool 100, thereby immersing the poultry carrying mechanism 400 in the scalding liquid and removing it from the inside of the scalding pool 100, so as to facilitate the placement and removal of poultry.

[0042] In one embodiment, such as Figure 1 and Figure 2As shown, the scalding tank 100 includes an inner tank body 110 and an outer tank body 120. The inner tank body 110 serves as the scalding space and is located inside the outer tank body 120, forming a sealed heating cavity between the two. The bottom wall of the inner tank body 110 is arc-shaped and has a heat-conducting medium. The heating cavity is equipped with a uniform temperature heating component 600, which is configured to heat the heat-conducting medium in the heating cavity, thereby uniformly heating the inner tank body 110 through indirect heat transfer via the wall surface of the inner tank body 110. The scalding liquid inside the pool 110; In this embodiment of the invention, by forming a complete heating chamber between the inner pool 110 and the outer pool 120 and operating in a water bath manner, heat is evenly and gently transferred to the scalding liquid through the entire bottom surface and side walls of the inner pool 110. This eliminates the problem of local overheating around the uniform heating component 600 and low temperature at a distance in traditional heating methods, and achieves a high degree of temperature uniformity at all points in the scalding space, which can effectively avoid the phenomenon of local "scalding white" or "scalding rot" of poultry.

[0043] In one embodiment, such as Figure 1 , Figure 2 and Figure 8 As shown, the uniform temperature heating assembly 600 includes a uniform temperature rotating shaft 610 and a heating rod 630. Two uniform temperature rotating shafts 610 are arranged parallel to each other within the heating chamber. The ends of the two uniform temperature rotating shafts 610 are rotatably connected to the side wall of the outer pool 120 and extend to the outer wall of the outer pool 120. The ends of the two uniform temperature rotating shafts 610 are connected via a belt drive 640. One of the uniform temperature rotating shafts 610 is connected to a uniform temperature drive box 500 located on the outer wall of the outer pool 120. Each uniform temperature rotating shaft 610 is provided with multiple uniform temperature blades 620 distributed along its axis. The heating rod 630 is located between the two uniform temperature rotating shafts 610 and is used to heat the immersion liquid. In this embodiment of the invention, a temperature sensor is provided within the immersion space to monitor the temperature of the immersion liquid in real time. The heating rod 630 then heats the hot water inside the inner pool 110 to achieve real-time control of the immersion liquid temperature. The temperature equalization drive box 500 drives the temperature equalization shaft 610 to rotate. Under the transmission of the belt drive component 640, the two temperature equalization shafts 610 rotate synchronously. The heating rod 630 follows the temperature equalization shaft 610 to rotate, which can effectively stir the hot water and make the hot water heat evenly.

[0044] The above embodiment provides an integrated automatic scalding and temperature control device for poultry, the working principle of which is as follows:

[0045] I. Initial Preparation and Heating Phase

[0046] First, the inner tank 110 of the scalding tank 100 is filled with a sufficient amount of scalding liquid (such as water). At this time, the device is in its initial state: the upper cover 200 is in a raised position away from the scalding tank 100 under the drive of the lifting drive cylinder 310, forming a feeding gap between the two; the lower cage 433 in the poultry carcass carrying mechanism 400 slides upward along the lower main rod 434 through the mounting sleeve 4331 due to the elastic force of the upper bearing spring 436, thereby being in an open state with the upper cage 432.

[0047] To ensure a highly uniform temperature in the scalding liquid, the uniform heating assembly 600 begins operation. The uniform driving box 500 provides power, driving one of the uniform rotating shafts 610 to rotate, which in turn drives the other uniform rotating shaft 610 to rotate synchronously via a belt drive 640. During this process, multiple heating rods 630, fixed between the two uniform rotating shafts 610, slowly rotate within the heating chamber between the inner tank 110 and the outer tank 120. This rotational design not only evenly and gently transfers heat to the entire curved bottom and side walls of the inner tank 110 via a water bath, preventing localized overheating of the scalding liquid, but its own rotation also agitates the heat-conducting medium within the chamber, further enhancing the uniformity of heat transfer. Ultimately, heat is indirectly transferred from the walls of the inner tank 110 to the scalding liquid in all directions, achieving dynamic temperature balance at all points within the scalding space and fundamentally preventing localized "whitening" and "burning" of the poultry.

[0048] II. Poultry loading and automatic clamping stage

[0049] The workers place the prepared dressed poultry, belly up, into the open lower cage 433. Under the weight of the poultry, the mounting sleeve 4331 compresses the upper bearing spring 436, causing it to move downwards along the lower main rod 434. This vertical movement drives two key actions:

[0050] Cage Closure: When the mounting sleeve 4331 moves downward, the connecting shaft 4321 fixed to its side wall and the upper cage 432 move downward synchronously. Since the opening and closing gear 4322 on the connecting shaft 4321 is in a meshing state with the opening and closing rack 437 on the side wall of the main support rod 431, the linear motion is converted into rotational motion, forcing the upper cage 432 to rotate downward around the connecting shaft 4321 and gradually cover the lower cage 433, finally confining the poultry body within the protective cover formed by the upper cage 432 and the lower cage 433.

[0051] Wing Root Spreading: During the downward closing of the upper cage 432, two spreading units 435 inside it come into play. In the initial state, the two spreading rods 4351 are spread open in a "V" shape by the spring (not shown) on the spreading shaft 4352. When the upper cage 432 approaches the lower cage 433, the ends of the spreading rods 4351 first contact and press against the wing roots on both sides of the bird's abdomen. As the upper cage 432 closes in place, the spreading rods 4351 are pushed back by the bird's abdomen, overcoming the spring force and rotating and unfolding to both sides around the spreading shaft 4352. This forced spreading action completely exposes the folded skin at the wing roots and the junction of the carcass, breaking the "scalding dead zone" formed by surface tension or feather coverage in traditional scalding, creating decisive conditions for the subsequent deep penetration and heat exchange of the scalding liquid into the hidden areas.

[0052] III. Immersion and Dynamic Tumbling Scalding Stage

[0053] After the poultry carcass is loaded, the lifting drive cylinder 310 drives the upper cover 200 to move vertically downwards along the guide column 300 until it completely covers the scalding tank 100. At this point, the entire poultry carcass carrying mechanism 400 and the clamped poultry carcass are immersed in the scalding liquid. Then, the motion drive component 420 is activated, driving the poultry carcass to perform a combined reciprocating and rotating motion to simulate manual agitation and achieve efficient scalding.

[0054] Drive transmission: The oscillating motor 421 drives the actuating rod 424 to perform circular motion around its output end. The bent end of the actuating rod 424 rolls and slides within the rod frame 423, decoupling its circular motion into linear reciprocating motion of the rod frame 423 along the length of the main rod frame 410.

[0055] Reciprocating oscillation: The reciprocating motion of the frame member 423 is transmitted synchronously to all the upper connecting sleeves 438 fixedly connected to the synchronous connecting rod 422 via the synchronous connecting rod 422, thereby driving each supporting main rod 431 to move rhythmically back and forth along the main rod frame 410 as a whole. This causes the poultry carcass to continuously move back and forth in the scalding liquid, generating convective impact.

[0056] Compound rotation: While the main support rod 431 reciprocates, the oscillating gear 439, fixedly sleeved on it, meshes with the rotating rack 441 on the action rod 440 fixed on the main rod frame 410. The reciprocating motion forces the oscillating gear 439 to roll on the rotating rack 441, thereby driving the main support rod 431 to rotate alternately in both directions around its own axis. This rotational motion, superimposed on the reciprocating motion, causes the entire support cage assembly 430 and the poultry inside to tumble back and forth and sway left and right in the water.

[0057] The combination of these two movements creates complex and intense turbulence within the scalding pool 100. On one hand, the poultry's surface experiences powerful impacts from multiple angles with the scalding liquid, significantly improving heat exchange efficiency. On the other hand, the tumbling motion of the poultry within the enclosure forces all parts of the bird into contact with and washes them, especially the hidden areas such as the wing roots that have been opened by the expansion unit 435, allowing them to repeatedly undergo thorough penetration by the turbulent water flow, ensuring the process requirements of "uniform and thorough scalding." Simultaneously, shed feathers and other impurities are effectively trapped within the enclosure formed by the upper cage 432 and the lower cage 433, preventing them from spreading freely in the scalding liquid and reducing the difficulty of subsequent liquid purification.

[0058] IV. Reset and Material Retrieval Stage

[0059] After the scalding time is reached, the lifting drive cylinder 310 drives the upper cover 200, which in turn drives the entire poultry carcass support mechanism 400 to rise vertically, detaching it from the scalding liquid. Workers can then directly remove the hot poultry carcass from between the upper and lower covers during the feeding interval. After the poultry carcass is removed, the lower cage 433, no longer pressed down by the weight of the poultry, returns to its original position under the restoring force of the upper support spring 436. Through the reverse meshing of the opening and closing gear 4322 and the opening and closing rack 437, the upper cage 432 automatically flips and opens, returning to its initial state, ready for the next work cycle. The entire process achieves highly efficient, automated, and continuous operation from loading and scalding to resetting.

[0060] In the description of this invention, it should be noted that the terms "center," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "inner," and "outer," etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are used only for the convenience of describing the invention and for simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on the invention. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and "third" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

Claims

1. An integrated automatic scalding and temperature control device for dressed poultry, comprising a scalding tank, an upper cover, and a poultry carcass support mechanism, wherein the scalding tank is equipped with a uniform temperature heating component for providing a heat source within the scalding tank, characterized in that, The upper cover is movably disposed above the hot ironing pool and is configured to move vertically relative to the hot ironing pool. The upper cover can cover the upper side of the hot ironing pool by moving downward and can move away from the hot ironing pool by moving upward. The poultry carrying mechanism is located on the inner wall of the upper cover facing the scalding pool, and the poultry carrying mechanism includes a main frame, a motion drive assembly, and multiple carrying cage assemblies. The main frame is arranged along the length of the upper cover and is fixedly connected to the inner wall of the upper cover. Multiple load-bearing cage components are arranged at equal intervals on the main frame and include the load-bearing cage components, including the main support rod, the upper cage, and the lower cage. The top of the main support rod is connected to the main rod frame and can move along its length. The lower cage is located at the bottom of the main support rod and can move elastically vertically. The upper cage is located on the upper side of the lower cage and rotates with one end of the main support rod. When the lower cage moves vertically relative to the main support rod, the lower cage rotates relative to the upper cage to achieve the locking and unlocking of the lower cage and the upper cage. The upper cage has two opening units inside, which are used to open the wing roots of the poultry. The motion drive assembly is located on the main frame, and the main support rods in each poultry carrying mechanism are connected to it. The motion drive assembly is used to drive the main support rods to perform a combined reciprocating and rotating motion along the length of the main frame.

2. The automatic scalding and temperature control integrated processing device for dressed poultry according to claim 1, characterized in that, The expansion unit includes an expansion rod and an expansion shaft. The expansion shaft is fixed on the inner wall of the upper cage and an expansion connecting sleeve is fitted on it. A spring is provided between the expansion connecting sleeve and the expansion shaft. The expansion rod is arranged along the length of the upper cage and one end is fixedly connected to the outer wall of the expansion connecting sleeve.

3. The automatic scalding and temperature control integrated processing device for dressed poultry according to claim 1, characterized in that, The bottom end of the main support rod is provided with a lower main rod, and the end of the lower cage facing the main support rod is provided with an installation sleeve, which is slidably fitted onto the lower main rod. The bottom of the lower main rod has a drop plate, and the drop plate and the installation sleeve are connected by an upper bearing spring.

4. The automatic scalding and temperature control integrated processing device for dressed poultry according to claim 3, characterized in that, At least one connecting shaft is provided on the side wall of the mounting sleeve, and at least one cage rod is provided at the end of the upper cage facing the main support rod. One end of the cage rod is fixedly connected to the connecting shaft. A splitting gear is provided on the connecting shaft, and at least one splitting rack is provided on the side wall of the main support rod, and the splitting rack meshes with the corresponding splitting gear.

5. The automatic scalding and temperature control integrated processing device for dressed poultry according to claim 4, characterized in that, The top of the main support rod is provided with an upper connecting sleeve, which is slidably fitted onto the main support rod. The main support rod is provided with a swing gear. The motion drive assembly is connected to each upper connecting sleeve and is used to drive each upper connecting sleeve to reciprocate along the length of the main support frame. The main support frame is also provided with an action rod, which is arranged along the length of the main support frame and has multiple rotating racks that mesh with the multiple swing gears respectively.

6. The automatic scalding and temperature control integrated processing device for dressed poultry according to claim 1, characterized in that, The motion drive assembly includes a swing motor and a synchronous link. The synchronous link is arranged along the length of the main frame and is fixedly connected to multiple swing gears. The synchronous connecting rod is provided with a rod frame, which extends along the width of the hot-scalding pool; the swing motor is provided on the upper cover, and its output end is provided with a toggle rod, the end of the toggle rod away from the swing motor is bent and extends downward into the rod frame.

7. The integrated automatic scalding and temperature control processing device for dressed poultry according to claim 1, characterized in that, The side of the scalding pool is provided with guide posts and at least two lifting drive cylinders, and the lifting drive cylinders are located at both ends of the scalding pool. The upper cover is connected to both lifting drive cylinders and is configured to move vertically. The telescopic end of the lifting drive cylinder is fixedly connected to the upper cover.

8. The automatic scalding and temperature control integrated processing device for dressed poultry according to claim 1, characterized in that, The scalding pool includes an inner pool and an outer pool. The inner pool serves as the scalding space and is located inside the outer pool, forming a closed heating cavity between the two. The bottom wall of the inner tank is arc-shaped and has a heat-conducting medium. The heating cavity is equipped with a uniform temperature heating component. The uniform temperature heating component is configured to heat the heat-conducting medium in the heating cavity, and then uniformly heat the scalding liquid in the inner tank through the wall of the inner tank in an indirect heat transfer manner.

9. The automatic scalding and temperature control integrated processing device for dressed poultry according to claim 8, characterized in that, The uniform temperature heating assembly includes a uniform temperature rotating shaft and a heating rod; The equalization shafts are two parallel shafts installed in the heating chamber. The ends of the two equalization shafts are rotatably connected to the side wall of the outer pool and extend to the outer wall of the outer pool. The ends of the two equalization shafts are connected by a belt drive component. One of the equalization shafts is connected to the equalization drive box installed on the outer wall of the outer pool. Each temperature equalization shaft is equipped with multiple temperature equalization blades distributed along the axis, and the heating rod is located between two temperature equalization shafts for heating the scalding liquid.

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